Is Russell Martin better at Centre-Half?

[Rudolph Hucker 0]

Russ put in some excellent performances last season at centre-half; in fact arguably our best run of results came with him there.

IMO Russ is a better centre-half than Barnett and especially so because of his reading of the game.

At full back in this league he doesn''t seem to me to be as effective as he was in League 1 and the Champs. But who to replace him with?

For me it has to be a conversion for Elliott Bennett provided he has the positional sense and discipline. How badly do we miss Naughton? In the EPL pace is much more important than height in defence.

So, I''d like to see Russ and Bass as a partnership in defence with pace added to the full-backs.

Incidentally, Hughton seems confused about when to send out a defensive side or an offensive side according to the opposition. He doesn''t set up sides to stifle the opposition''s strengths. I am beginning to question his competence and that of his coaches.

He needs to look at those last season videos again.....or for the first time and if he does he might just try Russ at CH.

[Baldyboy 0]

I dont think he has ever watched a video of any games from last season!! If he had surely he wouldnt change so much so quickly!!!

[Skerritt 0]

And drop Barnett, you must be mad

[Yobocop 1,105]

Russell Martin is so out of his depth its not even funny...the sooner Steven Whittaker is fit the better!

[Jacko 0]

Couldn''t agree more. I thought Russ was outstanding at centre half last season. I was much less sold on his performances as a right back last year. I would have been happy to have regarded him as one of our front line centre backs. With both him and Ryan Bennett competing for the right sided centre back slot.

Just to clarify I am not criticising his performances at full back this year. I think he has done pretty well. I just feel he would have given us greater security in the middle. While a very exciting youngster like Nathaniel Clyne could have been signed to fill the right back area.

[BroadstairsR 2,202]

Whittaker, the forgotten man, might surprise us all. That seemingly inocuous injury of his is taking time.

 

I would be inclined to move Martin alongside Bassong as well. Barnett is ok but only upto a point. There is an element of panic about him in crucial situations and he always seems to be a penalty waiting to happen.

 

How can we possibly have such a full complement of central defenders with only one of them being the complete article? 

[Yobocop 1,105]

No I believe Barnett has been an inspiration, the only way I''d drop him is if we could somehow get Turner performing to his full potential and I believe pairing up with Bassong could do it.

So I would go with something like:

Whittaker Bassong Turner Garrido

If Turner doesn''t react well to playing with Bassong and he is truly sh*te then Bennett or Barnett...

[im spartacus canary 0]

russ martin is the best centre back at the club in my opinion

[Yobocop 1,105]

Not for me, Bassong is by far and away one of the best centre backs i have ever seen play for the club....

[henrik 0]

Yep, Russell Martin is a centre half in my book. He reads the game superbly and mops up balls through the middle that otherwise seem to always end up in the back of our net.I genuinely believe a back four of: E. Bennett,  Martin, Bassong, Garrido is our current strongest option. Bennett would fit into the rightback position perfectly in my opinion. I think Ryan Bennett is my third choice centre back, followed a long way behind by Barnett and Turner.

[Highland Canary 76]

Martin is undoubtedly a better CH than RB. He played well there last season whereas he was terrorised in the games he played at RB.

[Gingerpele 0]

Russell Martin has been doing well this season?

[Gingerpele 0]

And also, its pretty much a FBs job to get ''done'' by the winger.

Was every RB in the prem rubbish when Hucks played for us, because he could beat them all? In fact Pilkington does a pretty good job at getting past the FB.

What are you expecting Martin to do?

[GJP 79]

I think Russell Martin is a good player for us to have in the squad but I''m not sure he''s someone I''d ideally want to have in the first team regularly - either fullback or centreback.

 

As most people realise, he gets beaten too often when he''s at rightback (although he is up against some very good players, of course) but he doesn''t give you a lot going forward to compensate. He lacks a little bit of craft when he does go forward and his crossing leaves a lot to be desired.

 

When he plays in the centre of defence he is a good talker, there''s no doubt about that. However, he needs someone alongside him who is better at winning the ball than he is. That was evident last season, he got a lot of praise when he played alongside Barnett but it was Barnett who was making more of the big wins and blocks for us.

 

Is he better at centreback? Well Lambert was certainly more inclined to use him as a rightback and Hughton looks set to do the same.

[GJP 79]

[quote user="Give Peas a Chance "]Not for me, Bassong is by far and away one of the best centre backs i have ever seen play for the club....[/quote]

Early days for such a comment. He''s played a handful of games for the club and so far he''s done pretty well overall but he''s certainly not been head and shoulders above anyone else.

 

 

[Baker 0]

Russell Martin started 18 games at centre-back last season

and we won 8, drew 5 and lost 5 of those games. We conceded 33 goals which is

an average of 1.83 per game (compares to an average for the whole season of

1.74). As a right back he started 12 games and we won 3, drew 4 and lost 5 of

those games, conceding 1.75 per game, which is pretty much the average for the

team for the season.

So we were definitely more successful as a team when he

played CB as opposed to RB. Surprisingly when Martin played RB we scored only

an average of 1 goal a game, below the average of 1.37. Naughton had a better

playing record at RB but we actually conceded marginally more goals per game

(1.78).

Ayala had our best CB stats last season . He started 6 league

games and we won 3, drew 2 and lost one and in those games we only conceded 6

goals. Martin had the second best stats. The two NEVER played together as a CB

pairing.

Barnett ‘s record was PL 13 W 4 D 3 L 6 GF- 19

GA-25. His goals against average per game was 1.92, higher than the team’s

average and a bit higher than Martin’s.

[anonamoose 4]

I think he proved he is a very effective right back. However i do think we need his athleticism at full back.

Despite how comfortable Garrido has looked I would like to see Tierney start at LB and get Russel martin pushed up further. We were so dangerous down the flanks last year, we have struggled to cross the ball this year. Holt will score goals when we give him the service.

[a1canary 0]

I certainly support the idea of Bennett at RB. He has a great delivery on him, pace and has shown he can tackle. Martin is a great guy to have on the pitch, he''s a talker and a motivator and leads by example so absolutely, get him in the centre alongside Bassong, eventhough he may not technically be the best centre back. Actually, now that we have lost Ayala, he probably is the best at centre back after Bassong. He does the all action, hack it off the line stuff well and is good at moving the defence out. We were way to deep against Chelsea - if we let that happen again against Arsenal it''s going to be another 4 in the against column.

[Rolf Harris 31]

Bassong and Martin centre back and Elliot Bennett right back?

[Indy_Bones 441]

[quote user="Ches right hand man "]Bassong and Martin centre back and Elliot Bennett right back?[/quote]I''d go with that - at least until Whittaker is fully fit and can challenge for one of the positions.This also means that we can bring Snoddy back into the side, arguably on the left with Pilks on the right...

[lappinitup 629]

[quote user="Indy_Bones"][quote user="Ches right hand man "]Bassong and Martin centre back and Elliot Bennett right back?[/quote]I''d go with that - at least until Whittaker is fully fit and can challenge for one of the positions.This also means that we can bring Snoddy back into the side, arguably on the left with Pilks on the right...[/quote]Blimey Indy, you have all these players out of position, what next........Wes and Surman as centre backs? [;)]

[hazza9 0]

Barnett is our main weak link in defence. His distribution, positioning and reading of the game is awful. Replace him with Russell Martin and play Elliott Bennett at right back.

[Indy_Bones 441]

[quote user="lappinitup"]Blimey Indy, you have all these players out of position, what next........Wes and Surman as centre backs? [;)][/quote]I''d argue that there would only technically be one player out of position - E.Bennett, as R.Martin, Pilks and Snoddy have all played in the suggested positions for a number of games before.It means that we get Snoddy onto his favoured foot more often which should improve his crossing and general delivery, Pilks is very two footed and will also be a threat if he cuts inside and shoots with his left, and Martin looked much better at CB last season than he did RB (and he hasn''t been that great at RB so far this season).E.Bennett has the pace and work ethic to both defend and help support Pilks and would offer more attacking threat than Russ has so far.I just need to get Fox back into the team now...